Parents Are Career Coaches

A coach is someone who is on your side and who wants to help you achieve the best that you can. As a parent, adopting the role of a 'career coach' gives you the best chance of providing useful guidance without too much or too little interference in the process.

As a coach you are a helper, supporter, encourager and partner. You are not the boss; you don't command or direct, you show by example, you listen, you reflect and share your experience.

Becoming a coach means...

helping your child find their passions and explore their interests

exploring career and educational options together

helping your child set challenging but achievable career goals

supporting your child in career-related choices and through their mistakes

encouraging your child to 'test out' careers by volunteering or through work experience or job-shadowing opportunities at school or in the community

Parents consistently show up in research as having the greatest influence on a child's career path. Taking the time to discuss your child's concerns with a friendly and encouraging 'coaching' attitude will ensure the greatist likelihood of a successful outcome.

Understanding Your ChildBy the time your child has reached the teenage years, you will know them well in many respects. Yet the teenage years throw up particular challenges in maintaining and developing your relationship with them. You want to provide the best emotional and motivational support for career and life choices but somehow other issues can get in the way.

It helps to remember that the young person is unique in personality, temperament and preferences. They are hurtling through a difficult process of progressing from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. It’s helpful to recognise the unique needs of your child at this stage. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs shows that our most basic needs unfold in the following order:

Finally there is SELF-ACTUALISATION - when we become the person we are meant to be – morally, creatively, intellectually, occupationally, with spontaneity, lack of prejudice and acceptance.

When the basic physiological needs are met we progress to fulfilling other needs. This is a useful theory to help you understand the development of your child but each person’s development journey is unique to them.

As parent or guardian, you have provided your child’s physiological, safety, love & belonging and esteem needs. As your child progresses through life, they become increasingly responsible for the fulfilling these needs themselves. Once they have mastered the basics, they then look towards reaching a point a self-actualisation. The Career Journey is part of Self-Actualisation.